Sur Les Ponts Sans Un Parapluie

Considering that there was not much we could do to help with our apartment hunting this weekend, we decided to head out of town and get the most out of our rental car before we had to return it on Monday.

Originally we had planned to take our little day trip on Sunday, but after arriving at the bank, which was closed, and looking at the weather report for Sunday we opted to transfer our plans to Saturday. Unfortunately after these detours we didn’t leave until noon, which meant we were a bit pressed for time. If any of you have been to a museum with Keith and myself, you know that we can spend hours reading everything and discussing it. Considering we only had the afternoon, we became hyper-travellers because of course we still had to get everything in.

With our ‘not so trusted’ GPS and a somewhat lacking guidebook, (we will be investing in a new more detailed one as soon as I have time to do some research or if anyone can recommend a good one for Provence this would help), we headed off to Pont du Gard. Pont du Gard is part of a Roman aqueduct which supplied the city of Nîmes with water from Uzés nearly 50 km away.   Aside from the grandeur of the architecture of the bridge and aqueduct, it is unique because the water in the aqueduct only descended 17m from its point of origin to the city. The Pont du Gard itself allowed water to only descend 2.5 cm. It is utterly amazing that the Romans were able in five years to so precisely build this structure, so that the water had enough force to flow all the way to Nîmes.   It is understandable why this structure is a World Heritage Site. In fact as early as 1560 it was designated a historical site. Those Renaissance Historians really did love anything Roman and thank goodness they saw the benefits of protecting this site considering that many monks had pillaged much of the aqueduct in early centuries to build their monestaries.

The Pont du Gard museum provided an excellent overview of the importance of water to Roman cities, as well as an in depth analysis of how the aqueduct would have been built. Let me just say this: most of us today would die of boredom in the time it took to tediously finish just one of the stones needed to create this magnificent bridge. There is a reason that the time of the Roman Empire has been referred to as the Golden age. The technology that they used to distribute water and the sophistication of machinery, such as pumps for firefighting, demonstrate how advanced they really were. It was all utterly fascinating and I am a bit disappointed that I didn`t have time to read about the archaeological project which has unearthed much of the aqueduct and determined why its use was stopped.   But we had to press on, as time was limited and we had another bridge to see.

Yes it was a day of ponts and of course if you are in France you have to see the most famous of them all. Alright, sing with me now, “Sur le pont d’Avignon.”  Just for laughs check out this video we found while researching the history of Avignon. It is actually on the official Palais des Papes website and this version is totally adictive.  Pay close attention to Jean Sablon's marvelous ability to sing without opening his mouth.

The old walled city of Avignon is right out of a fairy tale. The narrow unplanned streets with all of their twists and turns made it difficult to navigate in the car and find parking, but our little drive about has simply wetted our appetites to return to la vieille ville and get lost again. As difficult as it was to find parking, Avignon has got the right idea. Many of its streets are closed to traffic and you meander along them imagining yourself back in medieval times (if you can ignore the modern boutiques which line the streets).  After a bit of confusion we found our way to the Palais des Papes.  Still an impressive structure, the history of the Popes of Avignon is literally in the walls of their fortress castle. Everything else that was part of this history was taken back to Rome, destroyed during the French Revolution, or whitewashed over by the army who used the palace as their barracks.  The audio-guide did a good job of recreating the majesty and wealth of the papacy during its time in Avignon, even if all you have to look at are bare walls with the occasional fresco.

By the time we finished the Palais des Papes, it was pouring. It had been drizzling throughout the day, which had limited my photography, but now there was a continuous stream of water from the surrounding roofs and along the streets. Even without an umbrella, we soldiered on. Sur le Pont St. Bénézet (which is the real name of the ``Pont d’Avignon”) we learned about how God told the shepherd, St. Bénézet, to come to Avignon to get the town to build the bridge over the sometime violent and unpredictable Rhône river. When Bénézet announced his intentions, the citizens of Avignon laughed in his face, but the bridge came to be. The first structure, built between 1177-1185, was made out of wood and was quite hazardous to cross. Apparently many people fell off of it and it makes me wonder why the song is all about dancing on the bridge. Due to constant flooding the bridge was rebuilt many times and then finally went into disuse after 18 of its 22 stone archers were swept away. What we visited were the remaining four arches, which made up of just over 100 m of the once 900 m bridge. 

It was a spectacular day and although we finished it entirely soaked, it was completely worth it. On Monday, when we walked to the store to finally buy some parapluies (umbrellas) it was raining. After we bought the parapluie and returned to the great outdoors, the rain showers that had dominated our weekend had ended. Murphy`s law, I guess. Oh well, at least we are now equipped for future rain, and I will be able to take more photographs from under the safety of un parapluie.